Anguem Seducere
by FuneralForAFriend
Summary: They say you should never wound a snake, but rather that you should kill it, or flee and pray for the best. For some, that's harder than for others.
1. Chapter 1

**Greetings life forms who have stumbled upon this story. Before we delve in, I'd like to just further sum this up. This is my chapter-fic about Demetri's transformation and the events surrounding it and such. Therefore, 'Requiem Manipular' is sort of like an excerpt from this. Enjoy!**

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**July 17th, 1872**

Charlotte Armisted watched the glitter of sunshine from outside the carriage windows. The clatter of horse's hooves on the cobble stones put her at ease. She languidly picked her ornate fan up with her pristine gloved hand, then began to fan herself, her pale gold wavy locks framing her face in a billowing curtain.

"Is that necessary?" her brother asked from his seat in the compartment, directly across from her.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and folded the fan back up, setting it gently next to her. "You know, Aubry, I'm just trying to be a _lady_, since you misliked my behavior from our last "home"."

Aubry retorted back, "What you did was sinful. Any mannerisms could not help your standing with Him, now."

Charlotte wrinkled her nose. She hated it when her brother started to talk about his religion. He always complained about something she was doing, saying it was sinful or something or other. "If you haven't noticed, sweet brother, it's what we _do_. You can't change that."

She was referring to the fact that they were vampires. At first, Charlotte had found it unbelievable that they existed, but she had only a mere few hours to ponder that before she was turned. The date of the day she was turned was January 19th, 1496, meaning she was 376 years old, but she was a young 22, perpetually speaking. Besides the point of being immortal, Charlotte had also discovered that she had several abilities not ordinary to other vampires, or things that were called "gifts". Hers, in particular, was brought on by her most prominent character trait as a human, which were her manipulation and acting talents. Therefore, she could practically control a human, or a vampire, for that matter, through mental interaction. Her brother Aubry, however, was not innately gifted, and he was known as an ordinary vampire.

Aubry huffed and rolled his eyes, going back to being mopey and staring out the window. Charlotte smirked with satisfaction and kept her silence until the carriage stopped. The door was opened before her and she had to hurry to open her umbrella. Carefully, she lowered herself down to the ground, two butlers helping her down. Another two butlers grabbed their luggage. She landed gracefully, despite the heels, and gathered herself up, rising to her full height in a proud and vain manner. She lazily glanced back at her brother, and seeing he was out of the carriage and under her umbrella safely, Charlotte proudly made her way down the stretch of the cobblestone drive, analyzing the group of six men and one woman before her.

Immediately, she picked out those who must have been the master and lady of the household. The man was tall and slim with a freshly shaven face, a thing Charlotte hadn't seen in some time. In fact, all of the men were freshly shaven. They all wore sober and blank faces, but their eyes were alive with wonder at she and her brother. The woman, however, had a pained and uncomfortable look about her. Charlotte analyzed her closer and picked up on the situation. Just by her body language and her expression, she could tell that she hated having her husband have a distraction from her, and Charlotte was definitely a distraction, to say the least.

When the two got closer to the family, Charlotte nearly stopped in her tracks. Her breath caught in her throat and she swallowed deeply. Her mouth started to water profusely and she could feel the venom in her teeth start to loose itself in the pool of spittle that had formed in her mouth. She kept swallowing, but nothing seemed to help. The scent was the most irresistible thing she had ever smelled, and as she drew even nearer, she could see that it was radiating off of the man on the end- who must have been the youngest. Never in all her life had Charlotte ever been so captured by a mere human, and it disturbed her greatly. She snarled and brushed it off, willing herself to get back under control. A human life meant nothing to her, and she shouldn't be that fascinated, no matter how intriguing. Especially since this certain human life, and everyone surrounding them, would be killed in the end, anyways.

As the Armisted's met face to face with the family, Charlotte once again found herself nearly frothing at the mouth. Thankfully, Aubry introduced them and did most of the talking. "Hello, it is great to finally meet you. I am Aubry Armisted, and this is my delightful sister, Charlotte. We genuinely thank you for sharing your home with us, and we are sure to put you in the good graces of our God."

Charlotte had to fight very hard against her own will to make sure she wouldn't roll her eyes. In order to stay with this family as refuge for their constant moving, Aubry had convinced them via letters that they were part of some fortune in France, and that if they opened their home to us for a few weeks, then they would be able to collect the money, and repay them in great. In truth, Charlotte and Aubry were just a bunch of nomads looking for a place of shelter, and after a while, they would inevitably kill the family and keep the home as their own. Of course, Charlotte had devised the plan. Aubry, at first, had denied it profusely, but the more he thought about it, he decided to go through with it, but he also made Charlotte agree to apologize to the Lord with him. Charlotte had agreed with his conditions, but she knew that she would never go through with them.

Handshakes and names were hurriedly exchanged. Charlotte had to hold her breath as she shook the hand of the man on the end. She had to advert her eyes after she caught a glimpse of his hot blood rushing through his veins. His name was Demetri, and his brothers, in order from oldest to youngest, were Oscar, Victor, Lloyd, and Simon. The master's name was Henry, and his wife was Sonya. Charlotte and Aubry were led into their house, well, in actuality, it was more of a mansion. Beautiful Persian rugs adorned the freshly cleaned hardwood floors. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, their crystals shimmering and catching the light. Servants bustled around busily, and, in the kitchen, Charlotte could smell the scent of roasted pig. As a human, her belly would've rumbled with an eagerness, but now, her stomach just turned and rumbled with disgust. A servant skittered up to her and collected her umbrella and gloves, rushing them off to someplace else. She returned back hurriedly and took Aubry's top hat and cane, refusing to look either in the eye. Charlotte read her thoughts and breathed deeply. The servant, apparently, was terrified of getting another whipping from the master of the house. Pity, really. Too bad Charlotte felt nothing. Not a shred of sympathy or guilt.

Henry cleared his throat and turned around. "I will have my sons show you to your rooms. They will carry your luggage, as well. You must be very exhausted after a long day of travel." He said nothing more and he spun on his heel, nodding his head. Sonya, Lloyd, Simon, and Victor followed him, smiling at Charlotte on their way out, but Charlotte wasn't paying any attention to them. She watched as Demetri smiled nervously at her and locked elbows with her. Charlotte made a nearly audible growl in her throat and looked at Aubry, who was being escorted up the magnificent staircase before her. He shot her his "you better not be a bitch" face and presumed his conversation with Oscar, his guide.

Charlotte looked back over at Demetri as they started walking. He must not have noticed, because he never returned her gaze. Charlotte ceased her breathing and willed herself not to notice his warm skin against hers as she drank in his features. He had very dark blonde hair, almost to the point where it was brown. He had no flaws on his skin, despite him being a human. His eyes were a light blue color, with shocking accents of light green outlining the beautiful iris. His nose was perfect, as if Zacharie Astruc himself had carved- no, sculpted it. He was simply breathtaking, and Charlotte found it strange that she was staring. She blinked and looked straight ahead, trying to ignore the faster beat of his heart. It was near torture. At her age, it was relatively easy to keep herself under control around humans, but this one was certainly special.

Demetri pushed open the freshly polished wood door and stood aside, waiting for Charlotte to enter. She gracefully thanked him and walked in, checking over her shoulder at the closing door. As soon as she was sure she was out of human earshot, she ran with vampire speed over to a window, cracking it open and smelling the summer breeze outside. She breathed in and out as slowly as she could, trying to rid the scent of Demetri as hard as she could, but, somehow, it was stuck in her nostrils, crawling its demonic way to her throat, making her crave nothing but his blood. She looked over in a mirror and saw that her eyes had turned to pitch black, even though she had just fed before making their venture here.

Frustrated, she tore her jewels from her throat and stripped out of her uncomfortable dress until she was down to her Victorian petticoat. She felt strangled, ironically, since she didn't have to breathe. She peered back out at her window and decided she couldn't take it anymore. She turned to make sure the door was securely closed, and then turned around and ran, jumping out of the window effortlessly. She landed gracefully on her feet and turned to make a quick dash to the tree line when she heard a gasp. She looked over her shoulder and saw a servant staring at her with wide eyes. She had all forgotten about her duty of watering the flowers and just stood there, her bottom lip quivering like a pathetic toddler.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and smirked, walking leisurely over to the servant. The servant stared at Charlotte's skin, watching the seemingly diamonds on her skin dance. When Charlotte saw that the servant might run, she quickly closed the distance between them and covered her mouth with her hand, doing a quick once-over the area, seeing that no one was there, she ran to the tree line with lightning speed, the servant in tow. Charlotte waited until they were safely in the trees and quickly pushed the servant down, watching in sickening satisfaction as the servant's leg broke. Charlotte quickly sped over and clamped her hand over the servant's mouth, careful not to let her scream out in pain.

Tired of playing with her food already, Charlotte kept her steady hold on the servant's mouth and bit down on the soft junction between neck and shoulder. Charlotte audibly moaned and started to suck down the blood faster and faster. She was becoming infuriated that she couldn't drink fast enough, and started to bite harder, wanting the servant to feel pain. She let go of her release on the servant mouth, sensing that the life was almost completely drained out of her. With the last few gulps, Charlotte was still starving. Nothing seemed to ease the burn in her throat. It made her feel weak, and for a moment, Charlotte had convinced herself to march right up to that house and just kill Demetri now and save the trouble for later, but then she remembered her deal with Aubry and sat down on a nearby tree stump, crossing her legs and placing her chin on her palm. She sighed, deep in thought.

As the sun started to sink below the horizon, Charlotte slowly got up from her stump, looking with disgust at her meal. Thankfully, she had been clean about it, and no blood had stained her beige petticoat, but still, Charlotte felt dirty just looking at the servant. Normally, she fed on the blood of aristocrats and high standing officials, not paupers.

Very unceremoniously, Charlotte grabbed the servant by the ankle and swung her as hard as she could. Charlotte watched with morbid intrigue as the servant's body tumbled and flipped through the air before landing with a loud _thud _on the forest's floor. Smirking, Charlotte brushed herself off and ran back to the house. No one was milling around again, thankfully, and Charlotte made her way back over to her window, careful to kick the servant's watering basket into the hedge. She checked again, to be sure, and then vaulted herself up and through her window with ease.

The room was undisturbed except for Charlotte's hastily strewn off dress. She ripped the dress to shreds and flung it on her bed. She knew she had to be ready for dinner, so she searched through her bags pulled out a neatly folded dress (courtesy of Aubry) and easily pulled it up, not bothering with a corset for dinner. No one would notice, anyways. Or at least she hoped. She did keep in mind that she did have to impress these people to some extent.

A moment after she had finished brushing her hair, there was a knock at the door, but she already knew who it was, according to their thoughts and their scent. Charlotte slowly watched her eyes turn to black and she swallowed heavily, shaking her head and closing her eyes multiple times. She took a deep breath and didn't exhale, tightening her throat. Finally, she mustered up enough courage and went to the door. Carefully, she opened it and mentally reminded herself to not breathe and to not look at his neck.

Demetri smiled at her with that same nervous smile and offered his arm. Charlotte swallowed deeply and took his arm lightly, now wanting to feel his pulse again. Demetri led them down to the dining room, which was rather exquisite. Silver plates were laid before nine chairs. To the plates' rights and lefts were various utensils and napkins. Gorgeous crystal goblets shown with a red liquid, more than likely wine. Everyone was in their seats, except for Charlotte and Demetri. Embarrassed, Demetri quickly escorted her to her chair and pushed her chair in. Charlotte looked up at him and nodded, a token of her gratitude. Demetri rushed over to a chair that was diagonal from her and looked down at his plate, his ears and neck were bright red.

Dinner was a blur for Charlotte. The entire time, she sat there while Aubry talked to the master and lady, using vague and uncertain descriptions when Henry asked about their future. That was the only thing Charlotte could pick out, since she was so focused on not losing control over herself. When it was announced dinner was over, Charlotte carefully walked up the stairs, escaping the public eye and hurried herself into her room. However, she hadn't gone unnoticed. Aubry was right behind her as she turned to close the door.

"What is wrong?" he asked, looking exasperated.

Charlotte just shook her head. "One of the brothers…" she trailed off vaguely.

Aubry just sighed. "Please, Charlotte, don't ruin this for us. I agreed to your plan, so you'd better not be the one to mess it up."

She looked up at Aubry with a glare. "It's not my fault. I can't help myself. All I can think about it ripping his throat out and watching the blood flow," she snapped, feeling herself shake and shudder at that lovely thought.

Aubry grabbed her by her shoulders. "I don't care how much you want to kill him. Or any of them, for that matter. You need to keep it together until I tell you otherwise."

"What am I supposed to do, then? What do you propose, oh wise great brother of mine? To stay here, in this room until otherwise?"

Aubry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know what to do Charlotte. Look, I need time to think and make sure this plan goes out smoothly. You're probably just not used to having enticing blood around you again. You'll get over it." With that, Aubry departed and went to his living quarters. Charlotte heard him sit heavily on his bed and she rolled her eyes.

Although, what he said was true. She hadn't been around any sort of "appealing" blood for a while. They'd been living off of street drunks. She shook her head. She was Charlotte Armisted, and she'll be damned if she let a damned human intimidate her and make her feel weak and vulnerable.


	2. Chapter 2

**July 20th, 1872**

Charlotte drummed her fingers on the windowsill, watching out with eyes like a hawk. It had been three days since she and her brother had moved to this new house, and she was already bored. Well, when she wasn't trying to hold back her near uncontrollable thirst for that young brother- Demetri. Ah yes, Demetri. The shy one, seemingly. Charlotte yearned and longed for the day she could taste his sweet blood. She could see the vision in her head now.

_She laughed deviously at the frightened man, watching his eyes open wide, his mouth agape in sheer terror. She had a grip on his brother Victor, tracing her hand around his delicate and sensitive Adam's apple, watching it bob up and down. With another look at Demetri, she plunged her venomous fangs into his throat, allowing him to scream in pain by not covering his mouth._

_ Demetri was sprawled on the oak wood floor, trying to scuttle back to the corner. Charlotte had just killed all of his family, getting her last fill of Victor's blood. She threw his lifeless body to the side and changed her attention to Demetri. She licked her angelic red lips, stained from all the blood, and haughtily walked over to him, kicking aside the bodies of his other family members._

_ Trapped in the corner, Demetri's heard pounded so quickly and hard in his chest, it seemed it would break out of his chest and run away. Charlotte loved to hear that. She loved getting her prey absolutely terrified before she killed them, a habit most vampire developed at some point in time. She smirked as she saw his eyes widen again, truly feeling trapped. His beautiful blue irises were fluttering all over the room, trying to find a way of escape. Charlotte just chuckled darkly and ran with vampire speed to him, to close the distance between hunter and prey, ensuring that the prey would have no way of escape._

_ The scent of Demetri's blood nearly drove Charlotte insane, but, now, she knew she could have it, and she allowed her mouth to slaver with venom, her throat burning with ache and desire. Pure terror pulsed through Demetri's veins, plain to see. Charlotte smirked and felt a deep satisfaction in the pit of her stomach. This was just so pleasurable for her. She enjoyed seeing Demetri in fear, for some reason._

_ Dropping down to her knees at Demetri's level and stared him in the eyes. His pupils stretched and flexed in dilation from the fear. Charlotte took a deep breath in and inhaled his delicious scent one more time before unhinging her jaws and clasping them around his warm throat, but she just couldn't bring herself to sink her fangs in. She prepped herself several times, trying to will herself to do it, but, suddenly, she just couldn't._

Charlotte snapped herself out of her reverie. She frowned and furrowed her brows, running her delicate hand through her pale hair, troubled by her fantasy. She felt sick and dirty for wanting to kill Demetri, for some reason. It made her angry in the fiery pit of her stomach. She didn't like feeling guilt or any form of regret. Feeling compassion was even worse. It made her feel almost human, which was absolutely deplorable. Good lord, she felt like Aubry. She shook her feelings off and deduced she felt so bad for only being able to taste Demetri's blood once.

Sensing a mind near her, she zoomed up from her spot on the window sill, not wanting her visitor to see her skin because of the sun, which caused "things" like her to shimmer. Sun didn't kill them, like in fairytales, but it made their skin burst into a myriad of gorgeous forms of shimmering crystals that would reflect the sunlight. She sensed the mind the mind approaching her was Demetri and she sighed. She swished the curtains over the window, just as an extra precaution, and quirked her eyebrow, waiting for the inevitable knock on her door.

At the knock, she quickly dashed over in a swish of air. She opened it gracefully and stood leaned her weight against the doorframe, crossing her arms. Before her stood a very shy-looking Demetri. His cheeks were red from the blood that had rushed to them from his shyness. Charlotte forced herself to stop breathing. She stared him in the eyes and refused to let herself go into a frenzy. She was too good for this, A human was not worth her struggles. Damn, if only his blood wasn't so irresistible…

After an awkward moment of silence, Demetri managed to stutter out, "I never got the chance to show you around. We could do so now, if it please."

Charlotte nearly accepted until she remembered the damn sun, and her umbrella was not always proven to keep the sun off of her, especially if she got distracted and the umbrella would tip. "Hmmm…" she said, looking Demetri up and down.

He blushed harder and shrugged his shoulders a little. "We could wait until later," he said quietly.

Charlotte smirked and stood up off the doorframe, regaining her posture and stature. "Why, that sounds lovely. Collect me at sundown," she said sweetly, keeping her direct eye contact.

Demetri nodded and made a funny noise in his throat. After another moment of awkward silence, Demetri bowed quickly and walked away, the bright red color of his neck was extremely noticeable. Charlotte shut the door with as much composure as she could and then ran over to the window, nearly ripping the curtains off as she opened the sill, breathing in the wind outside. It was torture just being in his presence. She felt so vulnerable and weak. She absolutely hated it. She needed something to destroy, and she needed to destroy it now. She grabbed a nearby pillow and ripped it to shreds. Her skin trembled and her body shook with rage. The idea of being weak repulsed her to no degree. Vampires were weapons of mass destruction and emotional damage, not some peevish compassionate beings that loved each other.

Ripping the pillow was not enough, however. She needed to _hurt _something. Make something feel her pain. That was her best outlet for confusion and frustration, but she knew she couldn't do that. She had already killed that lowly servant. Demetri's family had just thought that she had quit and had gone back to her home. If she killed another one, suspicions would arise, and she couldn't really risk going out on the countryside, for fear of someone coming to check in on her, but she would be gone. Suspicions would rise that way, as well. And she couldn't even leave this damn room, for fear of losing her cool around Demetri. She couldn't be around him for extended periods of time. She had no idea how she was supposed to be able to handle a tour.

For the three days she'd been there, she'd just stayed in her room, watching out of the windowsill at the huge meadow that was placed outside her window. It was mildly entertaining to watch the grass blow in the wind, but even the most average minded humans would get bored of that. She sighed again in frustration. She picked up the wooden chair in the corner of the room and ripped the legs off and reduced them to a pile of splinters on the floor. With the remaining pieces, she snapped them with her bare hands.

Being bored was like being stabbed, to a vampire. Being bored _and _frustrated was like the end of the world. She honestly had no idea on how to keep busy. Until she saw one of Demetri's brothers walking in the meadow. He appeared to be Simon, from what she could see. He had a knife poised in his hand and his body was tightly rung up like a coil ready to fly free. Charlotte ran to the other side of her room and grabbed her umbrella. When she was sure no one was looking, she leapt out of the window and ran to the meadow, careful to stay out of Simon's line of sight. When she got there, he was still in the same position. His eyes were focused on something. He didn't move them once. Charlotte came up from behind him and was within five feet of him when he threw the knife. She heard a tiny, high-pitched scream and a scuttle. It was a rabbit he had killed.

"Good aim," Charlotte spoke up from behind him, in her god-like voice.

Simon nearly fell over. He turned around in the blink of an eye, his heart hammering in his chest. Charlotte smirked. "Did I scare you?" she asked in a caddy tone.

Simon placed his hand over his heart, breathing deeply. "Just surprised me, that's all."

Charlotte just nodded. "So, do you hunt often?"

He shrugged. "Not too often. Father thinks it's peasant-like."

"Would you agree?"

"If I agreed, I wouldn't be doing, it would I?" he said with a smirk.

Charlotte just shrugged with a nonchalant smile playing on her gorgeous lips. She already knew all the answers to these questions. She was just trying to make idle conversation. "Very true, I suppose."

Simon nodded slowly and looked off at the sun. "How did you sneak up on me, anyways? I always hear someone coming up."

Charlotte mentally decided that she hated him and that he was an idiot. "I don't know. I must've just gotten lucky." She finished the last part with a wink, and oh boy, did Simon's thoughts turn more gratuitous every second. His breath hitched in his throat and he swallowed dryly. Charlotte could tell he was falling into every little trap she was setting up for him.

She got closer to him. A seductive smile hinted on her lips. She placed her hand ever so lightly on his chest and pushed a little. He smirked and put his hands on her shoulders. She pulled her lips in an 'o' and quirked her brow at his boldness. Most men wouldn't even dare look her in her dead, blood eyes, but here was this brave idiot, putting his hands on her. It was what she wanted, though, and, very daintily, she slipped her hand through his big, callused one and led him to the tree line. He was completely under her spell. His thoughts were slurred and jumbled into one subliminal message.- he was obsessed with her.

When Charlotte was satisfied with their position, far away from earshot, she playfully pushed him to the stump of a nearby tree. Confident with not being seen from the sunlight, she folded her umbrella and rested it near the stump. She smirked and undid the first few laces of her dress. She hadn't bothered with putting on petticoats underneath, so when she stripped out of the cloth, she was in nothing but her underwear. She put her hand on her hip and quirked her eyebrow again. She was expecting Simon to make the next move.

Still resting on the tree stump, he smirked and undid his overalls and slid them down. He took his shirt off and placed both pieces of his clothing in a messy pile off to the side. He was a poor substitute for Demetri, surely. He had boring, dull brown eyes, and his eye wasn't anything above average. His body was a disappointment too. In fact, there were truly no redeeming qualities about him. He sauntered up towards her, and in one swift movement, he attempted to take her bra off, but Charlotte stopped him and pushed him backwards, sending him back to the base of the tree. She quickly put her dress back on and unfolded her umbrella. She looked back at the stunned Simon and shrugged with a challenging smirk on her face. After a moment, she swaggered away, laughing at Simon's thoughts.

By the time she got back to her room, it was approaching dusk. The whole purpose of her little escapade, besides having a little fun, was to hopefully get more insight on the brothers by reading Simon's mind with no interruptions around her. They worried her, some of them. From Simon's stupid bravery to Oscar's solemn seriousness. Each of them seemed to vary with strange personalities. Lloyd was quite the clown, while Victor was bitter and grumpy most of the time. Then there was Demetri. He was the shy one, who seemed to hide on the fringes of the family.

As soon as the sun had sunk under the horizon, there was another gentle knock on her door. Tentatively, she opened the door, reminding herself to not breathe. Demetri stood before her once again. He had changed his clothes from earlier to something a little more formal. For once, Charlotte felt a little underdressed. She didn't like it. It unnerved her. She shook it off, though, reminding herself not to waste unnecessary feelings.

"Are you ready?" he asked politely.

Charlotte smirked and curtsied. He offered his arm once again, and Charlotte shook her nerves off. She would be fine. And, besides, would it really be that bad if she killed him? Sure, it would ruin hers and Aubry's plan, but one could only restrain themselves for so long, especially vampires. They weren't used to waiting for the things they wanted. They got what they wanted when they wanted it, or it didn't turn out well. When there isn't much to live for, you have to find things.

Demetri started by showing her around the house, but the entire time, Charlotte was too distracted. His pulse against her skin was almost becoming too much. He was much too warm, and his veins were throbbing with blood. She felt her throat start to ache and her mouth started to become full of venom. It was becoming too much for her. Then, she made the mistake of glancing to her left and she saw Demetri's carotid artery. She covered her mouth and ripped her elbow out from the crook of his and turned away. They were in the middle of one of the hallways of the house, and she rested her head against the wall.

When Demetri put his warm hands around her shoulders, she had to turn and push him away. She was flushed and breathless. "I-I'm sorry. I have to go."

With a rush of cold air, Charlotte was gone, and Demetri was left standing in the hallway- confused, and maybe even a little hurt.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews. It makes my shadowcat feel fulfilled.**

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**July 21st, 1872**

Silence hung in the air the next morning at the breakfast table, Charlotte could feel it from her room. Their minds were too busy, and her sensitive ears could only pick up on their breathing and the muffled thumping of their hearts. She hadn't even bothered to move from her spot from the windowsill this morning. Her brother was in town with Henry, so it was just Sonya and the brothers. She knew that if she went down there, Demetri would want an explanation, or he would try to comfort her in some way, shape, or form. Charlotte hated that. It just made her feel like a human again, which was an especially terrible form of torture for some vampires. After all, most just wanted to live their human lives. Charlotte definitely didn't want that.

It wasn't that had been bad, per se, it had been _terrible_. Her parents seemed to tolerate her and Aubry well, enough, for their, village, anyways, which was notorious for abusive and drunken parents. Actually, her parents were on the other end of the spectrum, compared to other parents. Still, it wasn't a life a child would want, especially a female child. Life in their village was very difficult, and crimes were punished very severely, especially thievery. She had learned the very difficult way. She could remember the day like it was yesterday, which was strange, considering that many vampires couldn't hardly remember anything from their human lives.

_It was a rather rough winter, worse than usual in their Siberian village. With the volcanic eruption that summer, the roads were still too treacherous to traverse, so the very few supplies they had been receiving before weren't even available. Charlotte had been walking home from the streams after washing her clothes on a beaten up washboard. The process had nearly rubbed her fingertips raw, and the cold wasn't helping. Her family was known for being one of the richest in the village, but that still hadn't really helped them. Without the arrival of supplies, that also meant supplies couldn't be sent out, so her father's nickel plant had been sitting vacant for a month now._

_ Hiding her face in her scarf from the tearing winds, she could scarcely see farther than ten feet in front of her. She was elated to be back in the fringes of the town, but not when she saw her brother tied up to a tall pole stuck in the middle of their village's square. His hands were tied around it and his shirt was ripped off, his flesh covered in goose bumps. His shaggy hair tumbled before his eyes. He was on his knees, and behind him there stood the head law enforcer of their village. He was screaming at the civilians who'd gathered around to watch, warning them that this was what happened if you ever stole._

_ In a flash, there was the crack of a whip and Aubry's screams filled the frigid air, picking up even over the howl of the wind. A long red line appeared on his back, glowing from the impact. Aubry whimpered a bit more, and then the whip cracked him one, two, three more times. Charlotte was frozen in place. She was terrified. She had no idea what to do. She dropped her forgotten bundle of clean clothes and bravely emerged from the crowd. At the time, she had been a mere nine years old._

_ Without fear, she stood between Aubry and the enforcer. He gave her a smirk that sent chills down her spine, and, in another instant, she was on the ground, holding her face. She'd landed on her head and was slightly aware of a dull throb that wouldn't go away. She realized he had struck her with the whip as she brought her fingers to the open gash on her cheek. She stared dreamily at her blood covered fingers. She'd never seen blood before. It was a beautiful color in contrast with bright snow._

_ "Charlotte, get out of here," Aubry barked at her hoarsely in Russian. Charlotte looked over at him and furrowed her brows._

_ She had opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't get anything out, as the enforcer had turned her to her back. He spit on the ground next to her head, and then kicked her in the ribs as hard as he could. Charlotte winced and bit her scarf to stop from screaming. Then, there was another crack of the whip, and she felt cold air on her neck. He had hit her in the neck, and she was bleeding there now, as well. None of it hurt, in honesty. She was too dazed, too dazed to even notice the dull throb in her side from her rib._

_ Vaguely aware of shouting and scuffling boots, she looked at Aubry again. She saw slow and sorrowful tears coming out slowly from his grey eyes. He shook his head and grit his teeth, hearing more of the commotion. Charlotte tried to pay attention, but she couldn't. She assumed it was because she had landed on her head. Maybe she even had a concussion or something. That's what had happened to her friend when she fell out of a tree she had been climbing._

_ Suddenly, there were arms around her and she was being carried off somewhere. In the end, it was discovered that Aubry had stolen some gloves from someone who'd left them in the local tavern. He was going to give them to Father, but the gloves were taken and Aubry was sentenced to 30 lashes in the public. However, that had been nothing compared to what happened to Mother, who was the one to intervene with the scene. She'd been sentenced to being drowned in the streams. It had been a grizzly day when that had happened. Charlotte could still remember seeing Mother's head swirl around hit chunks of ice. They suspected that's how she died, actually, by hitting a piece of ice that had been floating at a fast speed down the stream._

Charlotte brought herself back to reality. It was weird thinking about that. That had been the thing that had changed her life the most, in honesty. After that, Father had sent her and Aubry away to live with their grandmother in Poland. Those years had been great for them. Their grandmother was nothing like her children, even though she had been born and raised in the same village, as well. She was kind and she loved Aubry and Charlotte more than she had loved her own children, the siblings had suspected.

By the time afternoon came around, Charlotte still sat unmoved at the windowsill when she heard thoughts outside her door. She stared at the door. She had left it a crack open, and she knew it was Aubry coming to talk to her, so she didn't bother in trying to hide from the sun. He let himself in, as she had thought, and he was careful to close the door behind him. He sighed when he saw Charlotte against the windowsill, resting her head on her dainty hand.

She didn't even look at him. "What?" she asked in a huff.

Aubry came closer to her. "I expect you're bored, then?"

Charlotte turned her head slowly and gave him a fake smile. "Of course not. I love being held up here like a damn beast."

Aubry just shrugged. "You could leave this room, you know."

Charlotte snorted. "And what, ruin our plan with having a slip-up from my self-control."

"Either way, it's not helping that you're sitting in here all day, either. They're already getting suspicious. We don't eat, that's reason enough. It just makes it worse that you sulk in here all day. No human would be able to do that."

"Tell them I'm sick."

Aubry sighed. "You know that won't work. They've asked you to show up to dinner tonight, and I won't allow you to skip it."

Charlotte furrowed her brows at him in confusion. She had never seen her brother threaten her, ever. "What if I do say no?"

"You don't have a choice in the matter. I've already explained that. Dinner will ready at dusk." With that, he turned on his heel and sauntered out, obviously not pleased with Charlotte's attitude.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, sulkily getting up from her chair. She decided to explore her confinements a little more. She ran her hands all along the bare walls, and was surprised when she found a weak spot, seemingly. She gave it a little push, but it wouldn't give so she brought her close to the surface and knocked. The inside was hollow. She ran her hands along the wall more until she found a little curvature in the surface. She slid it to her right and it slid away to reveal a secret passage. Puzzled, she put her hand on the wooden bottom, testing its strength. It seemed to be good, still. Not totally rotted away yet.

Placing her whole body in the shaft, she made her way up the slight ramp, where she could see it opening up. When she was through the little frame, she stood up and brushed her dress off, looking around. With her enhanced sight, she could see several small little things cluttered around in the room. There were ancient dolls, chairs, clothes, and various jars. What really caught her eye, however, was the towering book shelf before her. There looked like to be around 300 books.

Carefully, she tiptoed her way over. She examined titles and book covers, finding classical favorites, such as _The Brothers of Grimm _and _Pride and Prejudice_. She started picking out books when a scent crossed her mind, coming from a different passageway. A scent she had become accustomed to- Simon. She heard him coming, and by that she meant the pounding of his heart in his chest. Charlotte stopped breathing and flew to a back corner, hiding behind an old lounge covered with a cotton sheet. She analyzed the room, anxiously awaiting Simon's presence.

When he stepped in the room, he gave a heavy sigh and immediately made his way over to the book shelf that Charlotte had been gaping at less than a minute ago. He pinched his face in concentration and carefully scanned the books until he came to the one he wanted. Charlotte's heart rose to her throat when she saw the title, _Iamia_, which is Latin for "vampire". She watched him intently as he opened it, a cloud of dust floating up into the air. Simon coughed and flapped his hands about, getting the dust out of his vision.

While he was reading, Charlotte was reading his thoughts. His thoughts seemed to be magnified, and she could hear them crystal clear. He was terrified. He read and read, his excitement and horror building up. His heart started pumping faster, and he narrowed his eyes. His thoughts were basically screaming in Charlotte's mind, but she had no choice but to stay and torture herself with his invasive thoughts.

Finally, there seemed to be a click, and Simon looked up into space. He sighed and shook his head, closing the book slowly. Charlotte still watched him intently, not allowing herself to breathe yet. He sat down on one of the chairs and put his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes. She watched as he pieced it all together. Charlotte felt like such and idiot. She had led him to the forest and she had stripped down to nearly nothing for him. Of course, he would be curious. What was she thinking?

There were two things she could do- she could charm him into forgetting about it with her gift, or she could kill him. Charlotte had to admit, the latter seemed like the best decision, but she knew it wasn't the right one. It was much too early. She couldn't afford blowing hers and Aubry's cover, even if it meant that she would be able to taste Demetri's blood just a little sooner. Then she convinced herself of something- she could make it look like an accident. She spotted a window to her left and she started to devise a plan. The thought excited her like no other.

Coming out from her hiding place, she cleared her throat. Simon jumped and covered his hand with his heart. He nervously backed near to the wall. Charlotte smirked and crossed her arms. "What? Did I scare you again?"

Simon was speechless. He stared at her, then looked around the room for a way of escape. She chuckled darkly. "You know, it was my own fault that this happened. If only I would have left you alone yesterday. Oh, well. We can't have you knowing my dirty little secret, now can we?" At this point, she was right in front of him, her finger lazily trailing its way up from his shoulder to his neck. She stopped right over his artery. The sweet blood was rushing, and she could feel his artery throb. Her eyes turned pitch black and she opened her mouth slightly. Venom pooled in her mouth and her throat started to get that familiar ache.

"It was nice knowing you, Simon," she said teasingly, before she gripped his shoulders tightly and sunk her fangs into his neck. He made a light groan of pain and slowly sunk to his knees, gripping her back firmly. She leaned into him, feeling his heat leave his body as she drained every last drop of blood, injecting her toxic venom all the while. When she was done, she ripped her fangs from his throat and snapped his neck, being sure to get it a gruesome angle. Then, expertly, she dragged his body over to the window. She propped him up and got a cloth, cleaning the blood off of him. She had been careful to sink her teeth in lightly, so the bite marks weren't noticeable.

Checking out the window, she just shrugged and threw him down. His body made a loud _thud _as it made impact with the ground and she knew that he'd broken more bones. She closed the window and arranged things so it made it seem like he had done a suicide jump. Then she prepped herself for her acting skills and ran down the passageway to her room. She checked her reflection in the mirror, careful to make sure that there wouldn't be blood stains on her dress. She fixed her hair and recomposed herself and then opened her door, looking down the hall. She saw Lloyd and she ran to him in human speed, seeming hysterical. He furrowed his brows and listened to her intently as she explained that Simon had just killed himself. His eyes went wide and he tore down the hallway and down the stairs.

Charlotte sat back and smirked devilishly. She could hear the clatter of confusion and screams as they discovered Simon's mangled body. She laughed especially for Demetri being in distress. It made her feel stronger. Dinner that night was cancelled.


	4. Chapter 4

**July 28th, 1872**

The funeral was to be held the week after, because they wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. Apparently, they were accustomed to loss, as they had lost two daughters shortly after birth and a stillborn son. During that week in waiting, the house had only been occupied by Charlotte, Aubry, and Sonya, who didn't dare even go on the third floor, which was where Aubry and Charlotte held their residence. Surprisingly, the family didn't even so much as question Charlotte. She'd expected them to be a little suspicious, but, according to their thoughts, they could only think of one thing- Simon must have been trying to impress her. While it wouldn't have been a big deal if they would've asked her something, as she could "charm" them with a different story.

Demetri's blood and scent were still irresistible to Charlotte, but his thoughts were always cloudy, which helped her with her control. While Simon's thoughts had been the most audible of the household, it was only because she had known him the best. It frustrated her. She wanted to know Demetri's thoughts, but she couldn't risk it. She'd slipped up twice already. Well, the second time was necessary, but only because she had caused it to happen. Strangely enough, she didn't even get a vision predicting that would happen. Actually, she hadn't been getting any visions lately because Demetri was always on her mind.

It was a terrible feeling for her. She wanted more than anything to kill him and get this over with, but her brother was being tedious and difficult. He was with the family now, reconciling with their loss and helping them make funeral arrangements. It sickened her. Naturally, of course, she felt no sympathy or regret on what she'd done, so she sure wasn't going to console them on their loss. Their loss had been her gain. That's what it came down to in the end, right?

On the day of the funeral, Charlotte was expected to join her brother and the family at the church. She would be travelling with Sonya, which would definitely be interesting. Charlotte had begun to get ready ten minutes beforehand, just to spite Sonya. By her thoughts, she wanted to scold Charlotte like a disapproving mother, but there was another thing there, as well. She was terrified of Charlotte. The feelings Sonya felt toward Charlotte were surely gone now. She didn't feel hatred, just fear, and the general rule of fear is that fear is an all-consuming emotion. Fear took up all the space in your soul until there was nothing less, which accurately described Sonya, especially since she was alone in this huge house with Charlotte.

By the time Charlotte was done getting ready in her black and dreary clothes, they were still going to be early, and Charlotte hated being early, just because she hated being stagnant and waiting. In spite of that, she still went downstairs to join Sonya, and, together, they went out to the carriage out front. Today, Charlotte had donned a deep purple umbrella. Her dress and gloves were black, as well, and her headband was a low-sitting wrap-around delicate chain with chunks of black diamonds embellished throughout. The combinations contrasted greatly with her pale hair and pallor, making her seem almost ghostly. Sonya was even more terrified of Charlotte today.

The carriage ride was full of tension, to say the least. Charlotte sat back in her seat coolly, examining Sonya with her red eyes, the color that Simon's blood had been. Charlotte smirked at that thought. They were so clueless. The one that had figured out her secret had been the dumbest one, or so she had thought. Secretly, she had wished it had been Demetri that had figured it out, but the possibility was slimmer now. Charlotte had been sure to confiscate all of the vampire books from the attic's library, and any other bookshelf she could find.

Charlotte's thoughts were disrupted when Sonya made a strange sound in the back of her throat. Charlotte sighed and rolled her eyes, looking over. Sonya looked like a rat about to be swooped up by and owl. Charlotte quirked her brow, waiting for her to say something.

"Why?" she squeaked out timidly.

Charlotte gave her a weird look. "Whatever do you mean?"

Sonya seemed to be getting braver now. "I know my Simon wouldn't just jump out the window. There had to have been a reason, and you were the only one with him. I know you did something, and I want to know why."

Charlotte zoomed over to her, a devilish smirk on her lips. She made direct made direct eye contact with Sonya's dark irises. "I did nothing. He jumped on his own. I don't know why. You are going to tell that to everyone at the funeral, as well. Do you understand?"

By now, Sonya was as expressionless as a zombie. Her mouth was agape and her eyes were dead, but she managed to nod her head slowly. Charlotte sighed with satisfaction and zoomed back over to her seat, crossing her arms over her chest, watching through the thin lace of the curtained window. She could see the church in the background and knew they were getting close. Charlotte started to get nervous. She was terrified of churches. Father and Mother used to force she and her brother to church. They made them pray and ask for forgiveness of their sins, and they would bathe in the blood of a goat, which supposedly cleansed them of their sins. That explained why Aubry was so religious, but Charlotte had always hated every moment of it, since the day she had spoken out. It was another memory that held her mind prisoner.

_She had been young, perhaps only seven or eight. They were on their way to their church, she and her family. Aubry had been smiling ear to ear. He was always excited for church. Mother was always fretting about what she would have to do once she got home, and Father was quiet and disconnected, as usual. Charlotte, however, had no idea what to expect today. She had never been to church, but the way Aubry was excited about it made her want to be excited, too._

_ The family walked through the huge doors and picked their seats at the back of the room. Mother walked in first, then Father, then Aubry and Charlotte. Charlotte had to vault herself to get up on the high pew, even though she wasn't that short. Once she was situated, she removed her bonnet as a sign of respect, as Mother had told her, and folded it neatly and rested it on her lap. Her excitement grew as more people started to fill in. She recognized her neighbors, the Czork's, as they sat in front of them. The master and lady of the house, Phillip and Erinn, turned around in their seats and made idle conversation with Mother and Father. Their child, Forrest, stared straight ahead, not bothering to turn around._

_ More people came in until the church seemed to be bursting with people. Despite the cold temperature outside, the church was warm and a little too cozy for Charlotte's taste. She didn't particularly care for being hot, especially with all the layers of clothing Mother had piled on her, scared that she would get too cold on the two minute walk here. Once everyone was seated and the shuffling of feet had stopped, a man in white robes took to a podium at the front. He started reciting words in Russian, and Charlotte furrowed her brows in confusion. The things he was saying made no sense. He was saying how there was a savior and something about sacrifices._

_ Unknowing of the consequences, Charlotte spoke out, "This isn't real."_

_ Every single pair of eyes in the church turned to stare and gawk at her. Mouths were dropping, people were pinching the bridges of their noses, and some gave her looks of sympathy. By now, the man in the front had stopped talking and he was making his way back to where Charlotte was. Once he reached her, he yanked her by the arm and brought her to the front of the room, his arm viciously in the crook of her elbow, towing her along in his wake._

_ At the front, the mad started to chant again as he stripped Charlotte of her clothes. There was a scalding hot tub of water brought to the front as well, and, without hesitation, the man threw Charlotte in the tub, keeping a firm hand on the top of her neck, forcing her to stay submerged. Charlotte was terrified. She had no idea what was going on. The only thing she knew was that the water burned and she felt like her eyes were going to melt right out of their sockets._

A hand shook Charlotte out of her reverie. It was Aubry. The carriage had arrived at the church. She grabbed her umbrella and opened it, trying to stop the shaking in her hands. Her anxiety was mounting and mounting, until she saw Demetri. She could've sensed him from 10 miles away. Her train of thought lost focus on church and refocused itself on Demetri. She was surprised to find that she wasn't going stark raving mad again over his blood, but, rather, it was just a dull burn. The feel took her completely by surprise. She was thankful, for it, though. At least she got a little bit of mercy.

The church ceremony itself was nothing special. Only a few people had shown up. Charlotte and Aubry sat in the back, while the family was in the front, obviously. She was quiet for the whole thing, not able to rip her eyes off of Demetri. It was a strange satisfaction, indeed. Her self-conscious was ripping her apart right now, but she just couldn't help herself. She didn't really even want to kill him anymore. She just wanted to _watch _him. Every movement he made Charlotte was aware of, especially of his breathing. He had the labored breathing of someone who was trying not to sob or weep.

At the burial, Charlotte was rather annoyed, however. All around her, people were sobbing, including Henry and Sonya. The only two that weren't crying, however, were her and Aubry, mainly because they simply couldn't. Given if he could, though, Charlotte knew Aubry would. They lowered the casket into the ground and everyone threw a rose in. Charlotte languidly threw hers in. Humans were so stupid when it came to deaths. It'd inevitable to humans. What did it matter? Vampires were definitely less sentimental.

As everyone piled back in their designated carriages, Charlotte was a little excited that Demetri and her brother would be travelling with her and Sonya, as well. Charlotte sat next to Aubry, as Sonya sat across from her and Demetri was diagonal from her. The first half of the ride was fair enough, but then, Charlotte seemed to lose control of herself again. Demetri's blood started to be more and more irresistible to her. She thought it was weird that she had been so attracted to him earlier, but it was obviously because he wasn't that close to her. Now, being trapped in this close space was nearly torture. Her mind was betraying her. It seemed that when she was far away, it just wanted to look at him, but now that it had had enough of that, it just wanted to kill him.

Thankfully, the carriage pulled to a stop before it escalated that quickly. Charlotte hurriedly grabbed her umbrella and stepped out, confused to see a building that wasn't the family's mansion. It was made of dark wood, and loomed above her, not looking very inviting. However, inside, there were candles lighted, giving off a luminescent, yellow, warm glow through the window. Charlotte turned and gave a questionable look at Aubry, but he just shrugged. She grew angry. She hated not knowing something, and with all the strangers around her, it distracted her focus, making it difficult for her to read anyone's thoughts. Her attention span lacked, to say the least, which made it hard for her to do anything with her gifts, especially when everyone's thoughts were slurred and jumbled and practically screamed at her.

Once everyone was inside, Charlotte was able to pick out her brother's thoughts. They were at a tavern and they were here to have dinner, since Sonya couldn't be expected to serve them on this terrible and difficult night. Charlotte nearly rolled her eyes. She didn't feel an ounce of sympathy for that old crow. Simon wasn't that big of a deal, anyways. It's not like he was imperative to them.

Dinner was tedious and long, everyone talking in low, muted voices. Charlotte and Aubry, as per usual, didn't touch their food and dumped it in their napkin when they weren't looking. Thankfully for Charlotte, she was as far away from Demetri as she could get. Even from the distance though, her mouth wouldn't stop slavering. She wasn't sure if any vampire had ever resisted something like this.

At her last thought, a sudden realization hit her like a cannon. Her stomach dropped, as well as her fork, and she excused herself and stood outside. Finally, it all made sense of why she was so obsessed with Demetri. It wasn't because of how her brother had described it- because of the lack of being around "desirable" blood. It was because of something that happened to a vampire once in their entire existence. It was because Demetri was her blood singer.


End file.
